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Springfield hunter suing Glock, Inc., ammo manufacturer and retailers for $1 million over 'exploding pistol'

Posted on August 1, 2017 at 4:51 PM

SPRINGFIELD -- A city man who went on a 2012 hunting trip in the Blandford State Forest is suing firearms giant Glock Inc. plus ammunition manufacturers and retailers for $1 million after a pistol exploded in his hands and launched shrapnel into his face, according to a complaint in U.S. District Court.

While the lawsuit was filed in 2015, the case and a flurry of cross-complaints has wound its way through the court system without a single hearing. The first was Tuesday before federal Magistrate Judge Katherine Robertson.

Originally named in the complaint were Georgia-based Glock, Inc., which manufactured the 10mm semi-automatic pistol at issue in the complaint; Guns and Gear, a firearms retailer in Agawam, where the gun was purchased; Buffalo Bore Ammunition, Inc., manufacturer of the ammunition and based in Lemni County, Idaho; and Cabela's Wholesale Inc. in Nebraska and a local subsidiary, a retailer in East Hartford, Connecticut, which sold the ammo, according to the lawsuit.

Guns and Gear was later dropped from the lawsuit as it interfered with federal jurisdictional issues for the plaintiff's case, according to court filings.

Thomas J. Rooke, an attorney for plaintiff Rodney MacDonald, of Betterway Street in Springfield, writes in the complaint that MacDonald was lawfully hunting with a party in Chester on Dec. 2, 2012. The group began hunting with rifles and eventually began target shooting with pistols, the lawsuit states.

MacDonald borrowed the Glock belonging to another member of the group, Rooke states.

"The Plaintiff fired two shots from the gun without incident. On the third shot, the gun exploded/blew apart while the Plaintiff was holding the gun and firing it," the lawsuit reads.

"The recoil and force from the exploding gun violently spun around the Plaintiff's body and knocked him to the ground. Shrapnel from the gun struck the Plaintiff's face and body," it adds.

MacDonald was seriously injured, the lawsuit states, although the complaint does not detail his injuries.

The remaining defendants deny the allegations and have filed cross-complaints against each other. Put simply, Glock and Buffalo Bore are pointing fingers at one another, and the plaintiff is taking aim at both.

As a backdrop, Massachusetts Attorney General Maura Healey in 2016 took aim at Glock and Remington, another prominent gun manufacturer. She invoked her powers under the state's consumer protection laws to investigate the firms and demand reams of safety complaints from customers, arguing the Glock models were "prone to accidental discharge."

Healey suggested Glock had been warned and ignored red flags to that point, and cited gun violence as a "public health crisis" in court papers.

Glock and Remington fired back in Suffolk Superior Court with lawsuits against Healey's office.

Lawyers for Glock said her intent was merely "to harass an industry that the attorney general finds distasteful and to make political headlines by pursuing members of the firearm industry."

Healey disputed those claims as "incorrect and irrelevant."

Contacted regarding the status of those civil actions, a spokeswoman for Healey's office did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Tuesday.

A lawyer for Glock in the MacDonald case told Robertson there have been no settlement talks thus far.

"Glock intends to defend its case," Robertson prompted, noting that such lawsuits are numerous and not uncommon.

Both sides are still lining up depositions and securing expert witnesses, lawyers informed the court.

Rooke said a "dissection" of the weapon in question and the ammunition by a ballistics expert is pending. He also said his client, who was not in the courtroom Tuesday, suffered hearing loss, loss of sensation in one of his hands and an injury to his leg.

A trial date has not yet been set in the case.

quote:

"The recoil and force from the exploding gun violently spun around the Plaintiff's body and knocked him to the ground. Shrapnel from the gun struck the Plaintiff's face and body," it adds.

Dang, spun him around and everything. Knocked him down, the whole nine yards.

Those 10mm guns are something else, aren't they.

Kids, remember back almost a decade ago when I was finishing the first of the P220-10's? My advice to stick with mainstream, first quality, major ammo brands and to avoid the "small boutique loaders who can only pursue heroic velocities to differentiate their edgy products from those boring old-line standard brands" was viewed as controversial?

My advice was offered for good reason. The ultrahot ballistics claimed for some of these boutique loads would be an even bigger problem if they actually acheived them all the time. At 250+ PF, there is NO tolerance left for a marginally strong barrel.

SAAMI standards are a thing. Choose guns and loads wisely, keep your fingers.

-Bruce

I never bought any of that supercharged ammo and unlikely that I ever will, but I wonder what legal protection they have built into their business. Purely theoretically speaking, I would have had a customer to click through 2-3 pages of disclaimers and waivers if I were to sell such stuff.

As soon as I saw "Buffalo Bore Ammunition", I was no longer interested in the issue.

I was taught that when you pull the pin on Mr. Handgrenade, unfriend him.

SAAMI is indeed out there for manufacturers to use. Its problem lies that even on the covers of their reports they clearly state the word 'voluntary' when it comes down to following the standards they set forth in their testing and documentation. As a consumer/end user, whaddayagonnado? Not every ammunition manufacturer clearly delineates on their packaging that they follow SAAMI for their various loads, though the vast majority apparently try to when push comes to shove. But mostly as the end user we're still left to guess, particularly with ammo that comes in from places unknown.

And then there's the issue of bullet setback. The failure happened on the third shot out of the magazine. Towards the top of a presumably full mag. Was that actually a fresh, 'virgin' round or had that round been chambered previously, maybe even multiple times? At that point, when does it cease being the fault of the ammo or gun maker if the gun's owner kept 'recycling' his rounds over and over, after every time he unloaded and cleared his firearm?

Guess we'll find out when it goes to trial.

Must have been a hell of a round. I've had three pistols blow out, with a bit of blowback to my face and slight burn to my hand. In each case I didnt see the side blown out until I took my focus off the front sight and target.

Spun around and planted in the dirt? He may have loaded a small tactical nuke by mistake. Easily avoided by sticking with name brand ammo...except one of my blowouts was with Remington ammunition, and the other two with HSM.

I won't shoot anything from HSM again.

If he wanted the hot stuff, he should have brought a Ruger.

I'd rather shoot standard pressure ammunition, and shoot twice.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:

quote:

"The recoil and force from the exploding gun violently spun around the Plaintiff's body and knocked him to the ground. Shrapnel from the gun struck the Plaintiff's face and body," it adds.

Dang, spun him around and everything. Knocked him down, the whole nine yards.

Agree.

In normal firing the full recoil is directed straight back towards shooter and is generally not sufficient to knock him down. The forces of an exploding gun would be directed in multiple directions rather than straight back. Thus the force directed toward shooter would be reduced. But what can you expect in Massachusetts?

That said, Buffalo Bore 10mm scares me.

I respect what Mr. Gray has to say. When I adopted the Glock 20, I was concerned about not only safety, but possible damage to the gun (and me)and accelerated wear when using true Norma spec ammo.
I went with the Underwood 180 grain load at 1300 FPS. I did this only after I called and spoke with Undewood and they told me their ammo was close to SAAMI max, but did not exceed it.
So far, no sign of overpressure or gun wear using the Underwood load. Cases show no sign of excessive pressure.
But I don't shoot hundreds and hundreds of rounds of it either.
I looked at Buffalo Bore but opted not to use it as it seemed too hot. Its my understanding that the use of lead bullets in factory Glock barrels can result in excess pressures. I cant help but wonder if the BB load used in this incident was the hard cast lead "Outdoorsman" load.
Feel free to correct me if my supposition about excess pressure / lead bullets in Glock barrels is not true.

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:

quote:

"The recoil and force from the exploding gun violently spun around the Plaintiff's body and knocked him to the ground. Shrapnel from the gun struck the Plaintiff's face and body," it adds.

Dang, spun him around and everything. Knocked him down, the whole nine yards.

I can see the lawyer from My Cousin Vinny saying those words, "...To. The. Ground..." (with his hands up to the jury for emphasis before he walks back to his seat.

quote:

MacDonald borrowed the Glock belonging to another member of the group, Rooke states.

Why isn't he suing his friend who loaded the GLOCK with the BUFFALO BORE? Oh, he doesn't have deep pockets...

I hope Underwood in a Storm Lake barrel will be safe for my Glock 20. I assume yes because that's the whole reason I bought the barrel.
I am looking forward to seeing how the combination performs.

Bruce

I have Bar Sto barrels in my Glock 20's for a reason.

ONE MILLION DOLLARS!!!1!!

I've always kind of wondered how they determine these numbers. My dad was involved in a car accident in NJ a decade or more ago, and a lady in the wreck attempted to sue us for 1 million dollars, too.

quote:

Originally posted by PorterN:
ONE MILLION DOLLARS!!!1!!

I've always kind of wondered how they determine these numbers. My dad was involved in a car accident in NJ a decade or more ago, and a lady in the wreck attempted to sue us for 1 million dollars, too.

The answer is obvious.

quote:

Originally posted by sigmonkey:
As soon as I saw "Buffalo Bore Ammunition", I was no longer interested in the issue.

I was taught that when you pull the pin on Mr. Handgrenade, unfriend him.

And quickly. "Five is right out!"

quote:

Originally posted by parabellum:

quote:

"The recoil and force from the exploding gun violently spun around the Plaintiff's body and knocked him to the ground. Shrapnel from the gun struck the Plaintiff's face and body," it adds.

Dang, spun him around and everything. Knocked him down, the whole nine yards.

So, the story of the power of the 10 mm is true?

quote:

Originally posted by PorterN:
ONE MILLION DOLLARS!!!1!!

I've always kind of wondered how they determine these numbers. My dad was involved in a car accident in NJ a decade or more ago, and a lady in the wreck attempted to sue us for 1 million dollars, too.

I was thinking the same thing when I read this... one million dollars for what? I think frivolous lawsuits are becoming a normal thing and it's sad that we allow it to happen. There should be a couple judges behind the counter at the courthouse when you submit your lawsuit that should instantly decide if it's even allowed to make it past the front counter. If they deem it to be a bullshit lawsuit you should get fined for wasting the courts time and handed your paperwork back and politely told to piss off. The courts waste so much time on stupid ass lawsuits that should never make it past the front desk of the courthouse.

And as for idiots suing a million dollars for a wreck... what happened did she lose a limb and unable to work the rest of her life? OMG you made me bleed therefore you owe me a million dollars

"There were kittens everywhere..."